Cigarette and match case



H; L. AUTEN 2,458,923

CIGARETTE AND MATCH CASE Jan. 11, 1949.

Filed Oct. 3, 1945 I/11 [III/II,

Patented Jan. l l, 1949 2458923 IGABETTEA D MATCEILCASE;

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kewin the. $19U4 1QW4-$9 h be t m n r.- tion of thecontainer and supportiz g thestrilgipg surfaoe of tl ie. in g tch paolget 1 against the outside 4 .t e seew w b'umfierstood, h

n 'the e riti ofi with disastrous results.

ent invention is to provigle H H sh? "time? P eqk 9 mate M' sar t ebss v formed that Thetase'isof--"'enera1 oblor g shape, havin wide front andieafwaflls andrelatiifely 'narrow side." walls and thus of 52'; "contour adapted to be received within the pocket'JThe front'walls of the container ID are pressed. forwardly andtinclined'upwardly to form ablistei 'wa111l'4 which is connected to the front"wall"1dy triangular "side a11s;|,5,; The resulting 'compartme'nt formedbetween the blister WalIMjandithevpacket of cigarettes J6 isgenerally V'-s'haped in cross section apd'ada/pted'to receive the lower portion of a match packet ,IL, Theiblister compartment just described .i rgtends lso into t e closure jmembelv and I8', withjth ei r conneptipg side' walls; provide o ethe i ontinu usesne e W' ha blister Qmnartmen wh h ponfomis in con our. ne e11 t9th .;met h pa et,

The match 1 .3011??? I1, is old s u t nd ne cpmznqn y"employed'i o ;c rr in mat h h Packe no l x r i .esaus.e o .v oim tches. I 9 w ch h ned striking surface 21.

rzt li tue of;a. prwsrd yeex e d n blister,wall, lji pr ovided bythe iclosure I2; Thus,th,e walls? I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a 'gggette ar q arejoquod et t lqeirlow 1 e r ds to a, QQYeIflnieI nb eIf matqh caseembodying .my., in n 2,19; 251.- The ooyer megpoe 29 grl d s a pqut th st 'k" lowerends of the mat chesand proyidespp tl e 3 a bend or loop 22 and provides on the opposite side a front sheet 23 which may extend over the match heads to protect them, or which may, as shown in Fig. 5, be folded behind the matches. Since this form of match packet is well known, a further description is believed unnecessary.

In the carrying out of my invention, I prefer to secure the match packet within the case, and in such a manner that it can be used continuously without ever removing it from the case and until the last of the matches are used. Any suitable means for effecting this result may be employed,

partment portion within the closure l2 and at a point where it easily engages the loop 22 of the packet. Such a bar is effective in retaining the packet securely within the closure, particularly when the packet is formed as illustrated in Fig. 5, and at the same time renders the matches readily accessible. Further, the removal of the closure leaves the top of the cigarette package entirely exposed and accessible. j

In order to retainthe' closure securely upon the container it under trying conditions, I provide overlapping portions of the two members with latch devices which will automatically engage when theparts are" brought together. In the illustration given, the front wall of the closure is provided with a recess 26 adapted to receive a boss or button 25 carried by the lower portion of the container. When the parts are pushed together, the boss 25 'Iwillslip into the recess 26, and the parts are thus firmly secured against disengagement. However, when it is desired to remove the cover, a slight pressure upon the front wall of the container 10 or blister wall 14 will disengage the recess 26Ifrom the boss 25 and permit longitudinal separation of the members. It will be understood that the boss and recess may be reversed as to location, and further that other suitable forms of latching the two parts together may be employed. I prefer the latching arrangement shown because there is no interference with the water-tight seal afforded by the overlapping closure and container members.

In the operation of the structure, the match packet I1 is secured in position. with the loop 22 engaging the bar 24, and the forward portion of the cover 23 folded behind the matches l9. When it is desired to obtain a cigarette and match, the closure is removed, a match torn oif and struck against'the surface 2| of the packet I7. As a safety precaution, the closure is pressed down to the position shown in Fig. 2, with the packet I! on the outer side of the blister wall M, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In this position, the match may be struck while the remaining match heads are entirely enclosed within the protecting closure l2. As an alternative, and further as a preferred method, the closure l2 may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 3, with the closure inverted and receiving a portion of the bottom of container {0. The bottom portion of container 1D is preferably slightly reduced in size so as to enable the closure l2 to be pressed securely upon such bottom portion. In this operation, the packet ll falls naturally outside of the case, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and rests against the blister wall l4. Here again, the match may be struck on the surface 21 without danger of igniting the match heads which are concealed within the closure i2.

In either of the operations just described, it;

will be noted thatthe service man'on other user can hold the cigarette case in one hand, the entire structure being, in effect, an integral or unitary piece. This arrangement is extremely important when the user is moving under difiicult conditions and where there is no surface provided for placing the matches or the separate container or cover thereon.

In the structure shown, the bar 24, as well as the entire match packet ll, serves as a brace against the cigarette package I 6 and maintains it in a compact and rectangular shape. At the I same time, the cover of the cigarette package I prefer to secure a bar 24 across the blister com provides a smooth wall against which the match packet H is easily drawn when the closure I2 is moved vertically to open the container.

In the illustration given, the wall [4 at its lower end is bent in sharply at an angle at M to provide a seat against which the lower portion of the packet ll may rest. If desired, the wall Hi may be straight and the bend at M omitted.

When the case is carried within the pocket of the user, the blistercompartment actually occupies no usable space because the lower part of the pocket is the narrowest portion and the lower portion of the case is no wider than the ordinary cigarette case. I As the' pocket enlarges, the V-shaped structure of the blister utilizes the additional space, and the form of case therefore does not appear any bulkier to the user than the ordinary case.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a number of details as descriptive of one embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and claims appended hereto should be looked upon as definitive of the invention.

I claim:

1. A cigarette case comprising a container generally oblong in cross section, and a closure therefor, said container and closure having their walls extended on one side to form a blister compartmerit adapted to receive a folded packet of matches, and a bar carried by said closure and extending across said blister compartment and adapted to extend under the fold of said match packet.

2. A cigarette case adapted to receive a match packet of the type secured at one end to a folded cover and providing there a roughened striking surface, comprising a container generally oblong in cross section, a closure therefor, said container and closure having their walls extended on one side to form a blister compartment to receive said packet, and a bar carried by said closure in said blister compartment and extended under said folded cover.

3. A cigarette case adapted to receive a match packet of the type secured at one end to a folded cover and providing there a roughened striking surface, comprising a container generally oblong in cross section, a closure therefor, said container and closure having their walls extended on one side tov form a blister compartment .to receive said packet, and a bar carried by said closure in said blister compartment and extended under said folded cover, said closure permitting the extension of the striking surface of said packet outside the case while the match heads are still confined within the case.

4. A cigarette case adapted to receive a match packet of the type securedat one end to a folded cover and providing there a roughened striking surface, comprising. a'container' generally oblong in cross, section, a closure therefor, said container and closure having their walls 7 extended on one side to form a blister compartment to receive said packet, and a bar carried by said closure in said blister compartment and extended under said folded cover, said closure permitting the extension of the striking surface of said packet outside the case while the match heads are still confined within the case and engaging the top of said container.

5. A cigarette case adapted to receive a match packet of the type secured at one end to a folded cover and providing there a roughened striking surface, comprising a container generally oblong in cross section, a closure therefor, said container and closure having their walls extended on one side to form a blister compartment to receive said packet, and a bar carried by said closure in said blister compartment and extended under said folded cover, said closure permitting the extension of the striking surface of said packet outside the case while the match heads are still confined within the case and engaging the bottom of said container.

HOWARD L. AUTEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1 Number 

